Vector | Cell Targets | Cloning Capacity | Advantages | Disadvantages | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adenovirus | Lung, respiratory tract | 7.5 kb | Efficient transfection | Strong immune response | ||||
Adeno-associated virus | Fibroblasts, T cells, others | 4.5 kb | Transfect many cell types | Small insert size | ||||
Retroviruses | Proliferating cells | 8 kb | Prolonged expression | Low transfection efficiency | ||||
Lentiviruses | Stem cells, proliferating cells | 8 kb | Efficient transfection | Related to HIV |
Most problems in gene-therapy trials have been traced to the vectors used. For instance, many of the viral vectors eventually cause an immune response or have a cloning capacity too low to deliver the required gene.
New viral vectors and targeting strategies are being developed